


Admissible Evidence

by tornandfrayed



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Santos Administration, post-Transition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25875292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornandfrayed/pseuds/tornandfrayed
Summary: “Anyway, I was wondering, can I still send you flowers in February?”
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 11
Kudos: 106





	Admissible Evidence

They’re basking in the afterglow of another particularly satisfying bout of sex when Josh is reminded of a thought that has been plaguing him as the inauguration draws nearer and January comes to a close. Banking on the assumption that she is feeling particularly magnanimous given their current state, he decides to muster up the courage. 

“So, I’ve been wondering,” he broaches, tentatively, thankful his voice sounds more casual then he actually feels. He tightens his arms across her middle and presses his lips to the back of her neck for good measure. 

“Uh oh,” Donna laughs, running her fingers along his forearms. 

“Yah, yah,” Josh pulls away, loosening his grip slightly. 

Sensing that their time for quiet relaxation is over, Donna maneuvers herself so that she’s facing Josh, pressing herself into his chest. “Well go on, what have you been wondering? After all that, I’m pretty sure you could talk me into giving you the nuclear codes,” she teases. 

“I guess it’s good that you don’t know the codes, then,” he says as he bumps his nose against hers, momentarily distracted by the change in their position. With the way she’s nestled herself against him, he’s tempted to drop the subject altogether. However, with the deadline fast approaching, he attempts to regain his focus. Clearing his throat, he soldiers on, “Anyway, I was wondering, can I still send you flowers in February?”

Leaning back, Donna raises a skeptical eyebrow, “Why?”

Josh had been hoping for a positive reaction. He had prepared for a negative reaction. This reaction, one that is meticulously schooled with a professional accuracy to give absolutely nothing away, throws him off. “Why?” His voice doing that annoying high thing that he hates, “Because it’s our anniversary. Because it’s when you started working for me.”

Donna stares up at him with her doe-like blue eyes for a moment, then lays her head back under his chin. “Then, no. You cannot send me flowers in February,” she says simply. 

“No? But Donna—”

“No, Josh. If you’re sending me flowers to commemorate the day I became your assistant, I will have to, respectfully, decline.” She pats his hand, gently. 

Despite declining his offer, she had yet to remove herself from his embrace. Sensing he had a bit more leash before he turned this minor tiff into a colossal screw-up, Josh decides to change tactics, opting for a logical argument that would make his criminal law professor at Yale proud. “Okay,” he tries again, “but would you agree, without the February anniversary, we do not have a formal anniversary for when we started dating.”

“We have Election Day,” she says simply. 

At that, Josh scoffs, as if she said something deeply offensive. “I’m sorry, but our anniversary is not going to be the day we first had sex. That’s not very romantic,” he says shaking his head. 

“Romantic? Aw, Josh—” She says, beginning to nuzzle herself into his side and kiss the crook of his jaw. 

Josh, promptly, and with a little more force than is probably necessary, pushes her back, sending her flopping onto her pillow, “No, no, none of that right now. I’m working on an argument here.”

“That’s it for cuddling then,” Donna huffs, as she rearranges her pillows and sits up against the headboard. Josh, for his part, has already put is boxers back on and began pacing the length of their bed. 

“Plus, there was a lot of good that day, but a lot of bad that day too.” He adds, quickly waving his hand as to dismiss the thought.

She’s ashamed to admit sometimes she forgets, that while it certainly felt that their world has stopped spinning the moment they both gathered up the courage to do what they should have done years ago, the rest of the world continued unaware of their escapades. But Leo was like a second father to Josh, she knows, so it’s understandable the negatives from that day taint the positives for him. 

Trying not to introduce any unnecessary melancholy into the conversation, Donna nods evenly, “Very true. So, Election Day is out.” 

Josh has, seemingly, decided not to dwell either and continues to pace. “And we have previously stipulated that April is not out anniversary.”

“’Stipulated,’ wow, did you go to law school or something?” she jokes. If Josh is dusting off his old legal jargon, she thinks, he must have been working on this conversation for a while. 

His intensity not to be waylaid by her attempts at levity, Josh pins her under his accusatory gaze, like she’s some freshman Congressman that has stepped out of line, “And would you agree, that we both want to have an anniversary?”

“Yes, I would agree with that.” She nods dumbly, deciding to play along with his Vinny Gambini fantasy. 

“So, if we both want an anniversary, and both April and November a definitively not our anniversary, that would mean February is our anniversary. Would you agree?” he asks, his voice rising.

Glancing up at him, with large, naïve eyes she hasn’t used on him in years, she allows him to think he has backed into a corner. “Yes, February is our anniversary.” 

Halting his pacing, Josh stands over her with an air of authority she is sure would have served him well as a trial attorney, “So,” he draws out slowly, “I’ll ask you again, can I send you flowers in February?”

His smirk suggests he thinks he has already won, forgetting that Donna is uniquely practiced in deflating his ego with about as much effort as it takes her to bat an eyelash. 

Donna once again schools her face into a mask of indifference, “Why?”

“Donna!” He screeches, his voice reaching previously unheard-of levels of distress, “Because it’s our anniversary!” he yells, running his hands roughly through his wild hair. 

Seeing Josh’s increasing fanaticism, Donna decides to take pity on him and spell it out more clearly. “Yes, but is it the anniversary of when I started working for you, or is it the anniversary of when we first met?” she asks, as if he’s a small child. 

The conversation getting him more keyed up than he anticipated, Josh throws his hands up in the air, “I don’t—” he exclaims, before freezing slowly bringing his hands back down to cross over his chest, “Oh, I see.”

Donna only nods as if the epiphany he’s just come to has been obvious the entire time. Josh crosses around their bedroom coming to sit at her feet. 

Eventually, he relaxes enough to articulate his miraculous epiphany, “You know, this is kind of like in law school when they teach you that some evidence would be inadmissible for one purpose, but admissible for another. I mean, at that point isn’t it just semantics?” he asks, giving her a glimpse of that boyish grin that usually makes her weak in the knees. 

Not to be outdone, Donna continues with her stern demeanor, “Yes, well semantics or not, this judge is a stickler for the rules. So, I’ll ask you again, counselor, for what purpose would you like to send me flowers in February?” she asks, attempting her best impersonation of a no-nonsense judge. 

“Uh,” he begins quietly, as if, despite it all, he is still unsure of the right answer, “to mark the anniversary of when we first met?”

“Hm,” she pretends to ponder, tapping her finger against her lips, “That sounds permissible to me. It is so ordered; you may send me flowers in February.” She flashes him the teasing grin she’s denied him through the entire conversation. 

His grin returns to his face, dimples out in full force, “You know,” he says with a predatory glint in his eye, as he begins to inch up their bed so he’s laying mostly on top of her, “you are kind of hot as a judge.” He whispers, lowly. 

“Josh!” she slaps his wandering hands away playfully.

“I’m serious,” he mumbles into her neck, “if all judges looked like you and not, you know, old conservative blowhards, then I might have actually practiced.”

**Author's Note:**

> Did I write a West Wing fanfic instead of studying for the bar exam? Yes. Do I regret it? No. Is evidence of a car insurance policy admissible to prove negligence? No. Is evidence of an insurance policy admissible to prove, for example, defendant's ownership of the vehicle? Yes.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Your feedback is appreciated!
> 
> If you're interested, come hang out with me on [tumblr](https://torn--and--frayed.tumblr.com/)


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